Typewriting machine



Au 18, 1936. w. F. HELMOND 2,051,041

TYPEWRITING MACHINE Filed April 3, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-3.2. f

W. F; HELMOND v TYPEWRITING MACHINE Aug. 18, 1936.

Filed April 3, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATToR E.Y.

ATE

TYPEWRITING MACHINE William F. Helmond, West Hartford, Conn.,

assignor to Underwood Elliott Fisher Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware ApplicationApril 3, 1935, Serial No. 14,381

12 Claims. (Cl. 19'769) This invention relates to the means for sup- The spring-device is, by reason of its resilient porting and guiding a typewriter-carriage for reaction upon the carriage and guide-rail, untravel, and particularly to machines in which the failingly effective throughout the range of carcarriage has sliding contact with the guiderail riage-travel.

structure, as distinguished from machines in Other features and advantages will hereinafter which the carriage-guiding contact with the rails appear. is efiected solely by means of rollers. I In the accompanying drawings,

he sliding Centaet is P ed inasmuch as Figure 1 is a rear elevation View of a typewriterm ns mp y d h r r are b r p d to carriage provided with collar-like lugs to ride a prevent shakiness of the carriage on the rails rear guide-rail, the view showing the preferred 10 an are t usual what-bearings- FOr p form of spring-device and its application to avoid t e coll ke rail-riding gs employed on a 81- excess carriage-weight friction upon the rail. riage, such as the Underwood, can be made to en- Figure 2 i a rear elevation view similar to gage the Companion guide-Tail With a play-free Figure 1, and representsa longer, heavier carriage di fi Which Will endure prevent pand corresponding reinforcement of the spring- 15 ment of shakiness of the carriage on said guided i rail. Figure 3 is a side View of a section taken sub- Moreover the sliding contact is a desideratum, stantially at th line 3-3 of Figure 1.

in that acertain momentary augmentation of fric- Figure 4 is an enlarged plan view showing detion arising thereat as the carriage is arrested at t il of ilngaging roller and its attachment 20 the end of the letter-feeding step conduces to t leaf-spring employed in the spring-device.

minimizing reboundiof e carriage, t eb to- F gure 5 is a perspective View showing the gether with the prevention of shakiness, conducpring-device represented in Figure 1, d t d o p p letter-spacing and alignment, and position relative to the carriage and the guide-rail.

uniformly Clear printing y the types- Figure 6 is a perspective of the leaf-spring by 25 In some machines, such as those having extra it m g Carriages Carriages burdened y attach- In the Underwood machine, types l5 strike ments, the friction upon the guide-rail, due to against a p1aten l6 journaled in frame 11 the carriage-Weight, may tend to be eXceSSiVeported in the usual manner in a carriage-frame It is an object of the invention, therefore, to g which comprises w 19 m; bar 20 30, provide for carriages which are guided by sliding d rear bar 2 Contact the rail-structure, carriage-weight- To sup ort, and guide the carriage for travel counterbalancing meanswhereby excess weighto bar a f said arriage fra e 3 has friction may be avoided and whereby the remain two spaced collar-like shoes or lugs 22, fitted to mg modicum of Weight-friction may be closely slide along, and at the same time embrace, withregulated irrespective of the weight i the out play, a cylindrical rear guide-rail 23. A rail riage. 24 supports the carriage-frame at the front, the

Another object is to have'sa'id weight'counter' front carriage-frame bar 20 having a roller 25 balancing 0r Weight'friciiidn'minimizing means riding upon said front rail 24. The rails 23, 24 unfailingly effectivethroughout the range of carare respectively Supported by Standards 28 40 riage'tmvel' of the machine-framework. Each lug 22 hasthe A further object is arrange Said-means so usual ga 29 in its rail-embracing portion to that theywill be efficient, simple and therefore clear raii supportmg tongues 30 of h stand inexpensive, and readily applicable to. existing ards 21' designs of machines To the above ends, a spring device may be used to counterbalance the carriageweight; and traveling preferably with the carriage, such Spring-device may react upon the guide-rail h th lu s 22 have the usual through practically frictionless contact as by It W111 be Seent at e g ting shakiness of the card capability of preven 50 $313 :ggfii g figi g fig fgg fg riage by reason of their rigidity; and their sliding counterbalancing eifect, thereby to adjustably i enduring p a g if t g fig: counteract the weight-friction at the points of Wlth the rear rell It W11 fur er e en sliding contact of the carriage with the guide the usual momentary augmentation .of frictional A spring-drawn tape 32 advances the carriage 45 in letter-feeding steps controlled by co-operation of the usual feed-rack 33, pinion 34, escapement-wheel 35, and dogs 36.

rail. reaction at the rail-contacting surfaces of the 55;

lugs 22, at the instant the carriage is arrested by one of the dogs 36, conduces to minimizing rebound of the carriage at the end of its letterfeeding step. The friction at the rail-contacting surfaces of the lugs 22, due to gravitation, or, in other words, carriageweight, is to be minimized, inasmuch as such weight-friction tends to impede acceleration of the carriage in its letter-feeding step.

The preferred and herein illustrated means whereby the carriage-weight is counterbalanced to minimize the carriage-weight friction upon the rear guide-rail 23 will now be described.

Interposed between the top of the rear guiderail 23 and the under side of the overhead rear bar 2| of the carriage-frame I8 is a leaf-spring 38. This leaf-spring may react directly upon .said rear guide-rail 23 to co-operate with the lugs 22 in supporting the portion of ,the carriageweight borne by said rear guide-rail 23. It will be noted that, to the extent to which the spring by its resilient force co-operates to support the carriage-weight, the load carried through the railriding lugs 22, and therefore the carriage-weight friction at said lugs, is diminished.

There are preferably two of the springs 38, as indicated in Figures 1 and 2, inasmuch as there are two of the lugs 22, and it may be desired to have the spring-device control the weight-friction at each lug 22 independently or differently.

In order to be in unvarying placement relative to the rail-riding lugs 22 throughout the range of carriage-travel, the spring or springs 38 travel with the carriage. Each of the two springs 38 may accordingly be fastened at one end to the bottom of the carriage-frame bar 2| by screws 39, and in such place on said bar 2| that the free end of the spring is near its associate lug 22. To make its engagement with the top of the rear guide-rail 23 substantially frictionless, said free end of the spring may be provided with a rail-engaging roller 4|].

The spring'38 may extendlengthwise of the carriage-frame bar 2| and rail 23 as best seenin Figure 5, and may be of such length as to afford the desired degree of carriage-weight upholding resilient force. act, at a point between its ends, against an abutment which is adjustable to vary the carriageupholding force of the spring. Such abutment may be the end of a screw 42, threaded into the carriage-frame bar 2|. By turning said screw one way or the other, as by means of a wrench 43, Figure 5, or by means of a screw-driver'slot 44, a spring-abutting end 45 of the screw may be projected more or less to flex the spring 38 differentially whereby the force of the spring necessary to relieve the lug or lugs 22 of the carriage-weight to reduce the weight-friction at said lugs, may be closely adjusted. A check-nut 4| locks the screw 42.

Although two springs 38, or, mother words, a spring device acting at two different points, are shown, it will, be evident that the provision or use of only one spring 38 will be of substantial benefit in minimizing and regulating the carriageweight friction at the lugs 22; and it will be understood that such single spring may be placed at any requisite distance from one or another, or both, of the lugs 22.

The free end of the spring 38 may have forked tongues 4|,'l0oped as at 49, Figures 5 and 6, to

retain and receive the opposite ends of an axlepin 50 for the roller 40. As shown in Figure 4,

adjustably The spring 38 may rea pair of inner raceway-forming cones 5| cooperate with anti-friction balls 52 and an internal raceway-groove 54 of the roller 40 to provide for frictionless rotation of said roller 40. Said cones 5| may fit over a common bushing 53 whose ends may be upset, as at 55, to hold the cones 5| together. The bore of the bushing 53 fits the axle-pin50 which may be held in place as by a force fit in said bore.

The spring may consist of a plurality of leaves. Thus, for example, at Figure 2, which represents an extra long, and therefore heavier, carriage, the roller-carrying leaf-spring 38 is shown reinforced by an overlying leaf 38, both leaves being secured by the screws 39, and the overlying leaf 38 reaching merely to the looped end 49 of the roller-carrying leaf. It will be understood that the screws 42 will also serve to regulate the carriage-upholding force of the reinforced spring, and that, because of the reinforcement, the spring need not be flexed unduly, by means of said screw, to afford the necessary force to uphold the extra weight carriage.

The carriage-frame bar 2| may have recesses 56 to clear the roller 48, as indicated in Figures 1, 3 and 5. Said carriage-frame bar 2| may also have bosses 51 for attachment of the springs 38 and for the indicated spacing of said springs below said bar 2|. The rail-riding lugs 22 may be the usual separate pieces secured to the carriage-frame bar 2| by screws 58 and maintained in alignment by the usual groove-and-spline joint 59, Figure 5.

It will be seen now that the described springdevice may be adjusted by means of the screws 42 so that the lugs 22 may just skim along the crown of the rear rail 23, and that the carriageweight friction at said lugs will be correspondingly reduced. It will further be seen that, by reason of the resiliency of the spring-device, the minimization of friction at the lugs will obtain throughout the range of carriage-travel, irrespective of irregularities in the rail-crown surface. Furthermore, the described spring-device in no way interferes with the function of the lugs 22 in maintaing the carriage without shakiness upon the guide-rail 23; nor does the spring-device prevent the operativeness of said lugs to conduce to minimizing rebound of the carriage at the end of the letter-feeding step;

Variations may be resorted to within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A typing-machinecarriage and supporting structure including, in combination, a carriage, a guide-rail upon which said carriage slides in its travel, and a spring-device arranged to resiliently exert a carriage-weight upholding force effective throughout the range of carriage travel to minimize the carriage-weight friction upon said rail.

2. A typing-machine carriage and supporting structure including, in combination, a carriage, a. guide-rail upon which said carriage slides in its travel, and a spring-device arranged to resiliently exert a carriage-weight-upholding force effective throughout the range oficarriage travel to minimize the carriage-weight friction upon said rail, said spring-device including means adjustable to regulate said carriage-weight-upholding force.

3. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said rail, whereby it is guided in its travel, and a carriage-upholding spring working substantially between aid carriage and rail, and

acting to minimize, by its resilient force, the carriage-weight friction at said bearing.

4. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said rail, whereby it is guided in its travel, a carriage-upholding spring working substantially between said carriage and rail, and acting to minimize, by its resilient force, the carriage-weight friction at said bearing, and means adjustable to regulate said resilient force of said spring.

5. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said rail, whereby it is guided in its travel, and a carriage-upholding spring acting to minimize, by its resilient force, the carriageweight friction at said bearing, said spring being arranged to travel with said carriage and react against said rail.

6. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said rail, whereby it is guided in its travel, and a carriage-upholding spring acting to minimize, by its resilient force, the carriageweight friction at said bearing, said spring being arranged to travel with said carriage and react against said rail by means of a roller running upon said rail.

'7. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said guide-rail at two points spaced lengthwise of the carriage, whereby said carriage is guided in its travel, and a spring-device arranged to travel with said carriage, and to afford two individual carriage-upholding resilient forces at two places companion to said bearing-points, whereby the carriage-weight frictions at said bearing-points are individually minimized.

8. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said guide-rail at two points spaced lengthwise of the carriage, whereby said carriage is guided in its travel, and a spring-device arranged to travel with said carriage, and to afford two individual carriage-upholding resilient forces at two places companion to said bearing-points, whereby the carriage-weight frictions at said bearing-points are individually minimized, means being provided to adjust said spring-device for regulating said resilient forces individually.

9. The combination of a typing-machine carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said rail, and a leaf-spring arranged to travel with said carriage and to exert a resilient carriage-upholding force to minimize the carriage-weight friction at said bearing, means being provided whereby said spring has three points of reaction with reference to said carriage and said rail, the reactions at the three points cooperating to flex said spring and thereby produce said carriage-upholding force, said means including provision whereby one of said points may be adjusted to vary the flexing of the spring and thereby regulate said force.

10. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a letter-feeding carriage and a guide-rail upon which said carriage has a sliding bearing to guide it in its travel, of a spring arranged to travel with said carriage, and at the same time tend to lift the carriage from the rail and correspondingly minimize the carriage-weight friction at said bearing.

11. In a typewriting machine, the combination with a letter-feeding carriage and a guide-rail upon which said carriage has a sliding bearing to guide it in its travel, of a spring arranged to travel with said carriage, and at the same time tend to lift the carriage from the rail and correspondingly minimize the carriage-weight friction at said bearing, and means adjustable to control the carriage-lifting effect of said spring, and

thereby regulate said carriage-weight friction.

12. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a letter-feeding carriage, a guide-rail, said carriage having a sliding bearing upon said rail arranged to guide the carriage in its travel, and at the same time prevent shakiness of the carriage on the rail, said sliding bearing being further operative, by reason of a momentary augmentation of friction thereat, as the carriage is arrested at the end of a letter-feeding step, to prevent rebound of the carriage, and a spring-device reacting against said carriage and rail, and thereby tending to lift the carriage and correspondingly minimize the carriage-weight friction at said bearing, said bearing remaining operative to prevent said shakiness and rebound.

WILLIAM F. HELMOND. 

